I started An Armful of Animals by Malcolm D. Welshman months ago – around New Year 2019. Then I read other books and this one was left with no attention at all. Becoming and Anne of Green Gables took my attention first, and The Testaments and Christmas Shopaholic lately! Why on earth did I get back onto An Armful of Animals then? It was a combination of a sore wrist, memory of a walk with a keen big puppy, painkillers clouding my brain and having to sit for a while. I needed something light and warming. 75 % done too, so why not indeed? I also like to finish my books!
An Armful of Animals is a lovely collection of short stories about animals. And Malcolm D.! Malcolm D. as a boy inNigeria, Malcolm D. as a vet in UK and Malcolm D. as a husband! And there is a great variety of animals. Many different kinds of pets, encounters with wild animals and of course, varied species of clients. And we are not talking here just about the animals. The pet owners are their own kind too!
Reading about animals brings back one’s own memories. My cats mainly and the loss of them too! The joy and the sadness! The comfort and companionship! Nöpö was my sister’s cat, but she was the one we had the longest. Some of my special memories with wild animals includes a flock of cockatoos one early Saturday morning in Hay and an another is hundreds (yes!) of bats leaving for their evening meal in Brisbane and then there is the deadly beauty slithering past my hotel bangalow door in Oman and turning it’s head to look at me before continuing under the bushes. Luckily my child was behind me! The staff caught the snake later by the way. Yes, it was also the staff – house boys who dealt with the snakes in Nigeria, even if the father of the family then had his pictures taken with the ‘catch’.
So how about you? If you are reading this review, you probably like animals. So why not, if you like reading! On the other hand, if you are of colonial background, An Armful of Animals could also be of interest to you too.
STARS: 3/5
graphicgrub 